JOHNS ISLAND—The 120-foot Navy vessel that locals call a blight on the landscape has remained stuck in the marshy waters of Wadmalaw Island for nearly four years since it first crossed into state waters. Agencies working to remove the ship say it will likely remain there as talks with the owner to secure the vessel's title continue.
Despite a now yearslong effort from two state environmental agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard, and cries from residents and leaders from the small coastal towns nearby, officials say their hands are essentially tied when it comes to getting the steel-hulled ship out of the water.
Derelict but not abandoned
Captain Dennetta Dawson, a law enforcement officer with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said DNR has had several conversations with the owner, Sam Kodaimati, to gain the title to the ship.
The vessel, renamed HAZAR once the owner purchased it at auction in 2021, is several hundred feet from an active boat launch, lurching in the bank of Bohicket Creek. However, it's technically not abandoned, according to the state's definition.
This July will mark four years since the ship got stuck in S.C. waters. A Coast Guard order prohibits Kodaimati from moving it somewhere else, though it's unlikely the 1980s-era vessel is in good working condition.
HAZAR needed over $2 million in repairs, including two engine overhauls, and mechanical and electrical work, when Kodaimati bought the vessel in March 2021.
Derelict seems a better word to fit the ship’s description. It's rusted, damaged and until recently, had evidence of oily water aboard, posing a serious risk to the surrounding water quality and ecosystem.
For a ship to be officially declared abandoned by SCDNR, the last known owner must not return to it or acknowledge any communication from the agency for 45 days. Then, the state can take possession of the abandoned property and start raising money to pay for its removal.
"When we have a boat that we deem or think is derelict or abandoned, we are able to tag it. Within that time, we are sending information out to the owner, trying to find the owner and within that 45 days, that owner has to lay claim or has to say that it's not a derelict boat," Dawson said.
But because SCDNR knows who owns the ship, and regularly interacts with him, the ship can't be considered abandoned. Dawson said these conversations have not been productive.
"Mr. Kodaimati has not relinquished the title to the boat yet," Dawson said. "Until we get title to that, or until it is really an abandoned boat, there's not much that we can do about it."
Removing the ship would prove expensive.
Dawson said Kodaimati has indicated that he doesn't have the money to salvage the ship. She added that even if the agency did take ownership of the vessel, they wouldn't have much money to remove it either.
There is no state funding available to assist SCDNR or the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services to pay for retrieving abandoned and derelict vessels. A bill recently introduced by the state Senate, the Waterways Protection Act, seeks to change that by requiring all South Carolina boat owners to pay a small tax to help fund derelict vessel removals.
In the meantime, the agency will partner with volunteer groups like Wounded Nature to pull the backlog of abandoned boats from Lowcountry waters.
Wounded Nature is funded solely through donations, partnering with salvage companies to complete the work at little to no cost. The nonprofit recently towed and demolished two sailboats left behind in the Stono and Ashley Rivers.
The retrieval and demolition would have cost around $12,000 without the donated time and manpower.
Rudy Socha, CEO of Wounded Nature, said in HAZAR's case, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to tow, remove and salvage the hulking ship—and more if it falls further into disrepair.
"If it deteriorates much more, it's going to be a half-million-dollar job to get rid of that boat," Socha said.
Pollutants no longer on board
Last year, nearby residents raised alarm over the ship, telling The Post and Courier that HAZAR was an "ecological disaster" waiting to happen.
Steve Redman of Seabrook Island said he's called on the Department of Natural Resources, the Coast Guard, Department of Environmental Services and even the governor's office to hasten the ship's removal.
"When I saw this thing, I know that a 110 feet to 125 feet steel boat, there's no way it's supposed to be implanted in any ecological important area," Redman said.
His fears were validated last September. The U.S. Coast Guard deployed its oil-spill mitigation response in the fall, after evidence of water intrusion and oil on board the boat was confirmed.
All told, crews removed 3,500 gallons of oil and oily water from the vessel, USCG Lt. Michael Allen said.
With the mitigation complete, SCDES spokesperson Laura Renwick said the agency is continuing to work with the Coast Guard and DNR on vessel removal options, though the question of how long that may take has yet to be answered.